Is your blog PR-friendly? This is how brands look at your website

When I stumble upon a blog, the landing page varies. Sometimes, I land on the “About page”, sometimes the homepage, and many a time an article that is relevant to the destination. Regardless which page it is, there are a few things that I look at to determine if the blog is a good fit for my brand.

1. Overall impression

People always say, don’t judge a book by its cover, but in this day and age, the look does play a part in making a good impression. You may have fantastic content, but if the first impression is wrong, it may discredit all your hard work. Here are the things that contribute to the first impression:

Design
Personally, it is not a deciding factor for me, as the quality of the article, the level of engagement can outdo the design. The fact that your readers like the blog matters more. However, there are a few things that discourage me at first glance:

– Blurry images: if the photos are blurry, irrelevant, I’ll immediate move on to the next blog.

– Under-developed websites: if the websites lack important information, looks messy or has undeleted “filler text” (the one starting with “Lorem ipsum…”), it’s a sign that the blog is really in the infancy stage or the owner does not take very good care of it.

– Disorganised information: it certainly doesn’t look good if there’s an article about “Must-see in Japan” in the “Europe Travel Guide” section, so make sure that your articles are properly tagged and categorised.

– Messy typography: if the text is too hard to read, too big, too small or there are too many fonts together on one page, it leaves a very bad impression.

The quality of the articles
This is one of the most important factors that form the first impression. Brands will look for articles that are well-written, thoroughly researched and has a personal tone/feeling to it.

Domain Authority (DA)
A general rule of thumb is that the higher the DA is, the better it is. However, domain authority is an important factor but not a deciding one. If the blog has great content and visuals, relevant audience but a low DA, there is still a possibility to collaborate. Vice versa, if a blog has a really high DA, but is absolutely irrelevant to a brand, then the two won’t be able to work together.

Timeliness
If the last update was 2 or 3 years ago, it’s an indication that the blog has been inactive.

2. List of destinations

Once the blog has created a good impression and I know that there’s someone behind taking care of it, I’ll try to find out if the blogger has been to the places we are present in. From then on, I’ll think of possible collaborations with the blogger.

3. About me page

When there’s a potential for collaboration, I’ll move on to find out who the blogger is. On the “About” page, I’m looking for some general information, like name, origin, etc. You can think about how you want to present yourself professionally, what kind of image you want to build. Some extra information that shows your personality is good, but don’t be too long.

4. Work with me

This is where we talk business. On this page, you can indicate the types of collaboration you are looking for, portfolio, statistics, contact information and a media kit.

5. Social media links

I will definitely check out a blog’s social media channels, and I believe that your readers will, too. Make sure that it’s easy to spot these buttons. Best of all, you can put them where the need to check out social media channels is most likely to arise, like the “About me”, “Work with me” pages and in the media kit.

6. Previous collaborations/Relevant articles

If you mention that you have collaborated with other brands before, it’s good to include links to those work so brands have an idea of your work.

7. Media kit

If the information in 4, 5 and 6 is nowhere to be found, then I’ll be looking for a media kit. What brands look for in a media kit is mentioned in this article.

8. Comments, Likes, Shares

When I’m reading an article, I also check if there are a share button and a comment box. I’ll also take into accounts the number of comments, likes and shares and the kinds of people who leave comments on the blog.

9. Search box

It’s a simple but important feature on the website. The search box comes in handy when I am looking for specific topics/articles.

In general, there are a few questions I have in mind for when approaching a new blog:

– Is the blog relevant for the brand?
– Who is the blogger?
– How big is the blog?
– How credible is the blog?
– How do I contact the blogger?

There’s no hard rule as to how you should present the information. As long as these questions are answered, you are good to go.

About Khanh Tran

Khanh Tran oversees influencer collaborations at Villa-Finder.com, a leading villa booking and distribution platform in Asia. Khanh has also contributed to various media and magazines like KarryOn, SingaporeMotherhood and Family Capers.